When I woke up in God’s own country: Kerala #3

Day 3: The Green Falls and the Greener Wildlife Sanctuary
Today was going to be the last day in Munnar. And in Kerala. We had plans ready, and a jeep too. Rest what happened, the pics below would say for themselves…
The day started with a bit of shopping. We reached the local markets. Friends bought miniature boats for themselves. I had already got a gift for her the day before, so I continued clicking images around.

After a few transactions and a lot of window shopping later, we reached the Eravikulam National Park. The board below was promising!
But when we saw the queue, we decided otherwise. National parks were for amateurs! I for one had been already sucked by a live leech in a protected tea plantation. We decided that instead of moving in queues, we would explore things ourselves. :)

And we were right! Nature doesn’t need boards declaring its beauty.

We reached a waterfall. The LAKKOM Waterfall.
Amazing place. Wet, and Romantic. I kept on clicking…
and clicking…
and clicking…
and clicking…
and then threw off the camera to one of my friends and jumped into the water!!! :) The Karnataka falls were great. Now was the time to enjoy the Kerala ones!!!

After having a hell of a time in the falls, we got back to our Jeep. Now was the time to pass through the forests of Sandalwood. It was a protected area. All the trees on the roadside were of expensive Sandalwood. We could touch them, but we could not take them. Watchmen were all around us, sitting above the tree tops. With Guns.
Next on itinerary was the Chinnar Wildlife Sanctuary. We paid our way into a trekking program through the Sanctuary. The sky was clear, the winds, dry. Perfect day for a trekking into the wild.

We had been provided with a guide, who incidentally spoke very less. Not typical of guides. :)
We came across a rock painting. Not sure how many years old it was. And not sure what the images of deer were doing in it. Anyways, we moved on!

With this, we ended the trekking. The plan ahead was straightforward. Had lunch in a local restaurant and boarded a bus back to Bangalore. Back to our busy lives of the IIMs and the management degrees. Back to the fierce competitions and late night studies. Back to the land of summer placement interviews, quizzes, exams, lectures, professors, credits, notes, tutorials.
Back to the lives of a thousand running DK Boses.

Anyways, the following photograph is one of my favorites. Sums up our amazing Kerala trip.